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MLS Regular Season

The Crew's possession-based system requires players comfortable on the ball all over the pitch. That can even be extended back to the goalkeeper position. Holding the ball often means playing it back, and Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark has been an asset this season in helping the Crew do that.

Among all goalkeepers this season, nobody has more ball touches than Clark, and nobody has passed to a higher percentage than the Crew 'keeper. A full list of all MLS goalkeepers with 1000 or more touches is below:

Lost in the hoopla of the Crew's dramatic and unprecedented 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Union was a milestone set by Black & Gold 'keeper Steve Clark. By making four saves against the Union, Clark hit 102 on the season and thus surpassed the 100-save milestone in his first season between the goalposts for the Crew.

In doing so, Clark became the first club goalkeeper to reach the century mark in stops since Andy Gruenebaum in 2012 (124 saves). Clark and Gruenebaum are the only two Black & Gold goalkeepers to hit 100+ saves over the club's last 10 seasons.

Anthony Precourt joined MLS ExtraTime Radio recently to discuss the #NewCrew reveal event and the club's future as Columbus Crew SC. Among the questions Precourt received was why the club decided to change to "Crew SC" as opposed to "Crew FC."

"We are in the heartland of America," said the club's Chairman and Investor-Operator. "The Ohio State Buckeyes are extremely relevant in town. We thought it was important to differentiate ourselves from football ... We play soccer here, we don't play football."

It was a slight setback for the Black & Gold in the weekly Power Rankings following the club's 2-1 defeat away to New England, but the Crew is still in good position in the Eastern Conference and will look to vault back up the charts with a result in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Check out the full rankings below, with last week's position indicated:

The Crew has beaten the New England Revolution twice this season, but it's now the third and final meeting of the regular season that is proving to be the most meaningful. Winger Ethan Finlay, who scored the game-winning goal the last time the Black & Gold played at Gillette Stadium, maintains that organization will be the key for the Crew on Saturday.

"It's our defensive shape, staying compact," said Finlay. "This is a good team. When you look at that midfield, they want to play soccer and they have some dangerous pieces up top. Our shape has to be very compact and we have to look to find the spaces behind them going forward."

Finlay also stressed that the Crew was ready for the month of October and knows the task at hand.

Hear more from Finlay in the Black & Gold Breakdown, set to be released later today on TheCrew.com.

In 2014, the Columbus Crew has set an all-time club record with five sellouts at Crew Stadium. Another sign of the explosion of soccer both in this city and nationwide, the Black & Gold's five sellouts are more than New York, Chicago, New England, Montreal, D.C. and Houston in the Eastern Conference, and more than Chivas USA, Colorado, Dallas and LA in the Western Conference. But most importantly, at home, great crowd support has led to wins.

In the Crew's five sellouts this season, the Black & Gold are 4-0-1 with an aggregate score of 9-2:

The Crew's 7-2-2 record over its last 11 matches, capped off by a 2-0 win over Montreal on Saturday, has resulted in a sharp rise in the national Power Rankings. The Black & Gold jumped an average of three spots in each of the polls.

See below for Columbus' exact placement with last week's rank indicated:

To those who follow the Crew (and maybe the New England Revolution), it's no secret: Federico Higuain is deadly when standing over the ball on a set piece near goal. Pipa's strike against the Revs on Saturday was his second such goal of 2014, and his second against New England after scoring from a very similar position in Foxborough earlier this season. Additionally, Higuaín scored on two free kicks against the Revolution on August 25, 2012.

The Argentine currently ranks second in free-kick goals this season, trailing FC Dallas' Michel, who has three. The two players are the only two with more than one in 2014.

Despite ranking second this season, since Higuain's MLS debut, nobody has notched more free-kick goals. In fact, only eight players over that time period (since August 19, 2012) have recorded more than one free-kick tally:

Player

Free-Kick Goals since 8/19/12

Federico Higuain

4

Camilo

3

Michel

3

Ramiro Corrales

2

Benny Feilhaber

2

Marvin Chavez

2

Juninho

2

Will Johnson

2

Over this span, Higuain also has registered 34 shots from a free kick, which bests New England's Lee Nguyen by four for the League lead in that time period as well.

With the club's final home match before a three-weekend road swing, three points at home against Montreal would go a long way toward a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs. That fact isn't lost on defender Eric Gehrig.

"We know it's an important game. It's another three points at home," said Gehrig. "We know that our games left at home in the regular season are numbered. It's our biggest game of the season."

Although Montreal is in last place in the Eastern Conference, the side has put together better results of late and Gehrig is not taking the Impact lightly: "To me, they're a really dangerous team."

Stay tuned for more of Gehrig's thoughts on the Impact match in this weekend's Black & Gold Breakdown, presented by Koorsen Fire and Security.